Fire retardant management system

ABSTRACT

A management system for controlling the dispensing of a fire fighting agent from a container in which a control device is used to select a desired rate of discharge of a fire fighting retarding agent from a container. The system includes a display in visual proximity to a user of the control device for visually indicating the selected flow rate of the fire retarding agent from the container. In addition, the system includes a visual display for indicating the time remaining, preferably in minutes and seconds, for the fire retarding agent in the container to be substantially completely expended. Alternatively, a synthesized voice may announce the time remaining at predetermined intervals such as every 5 seconds. Finally, a visual display, preferably in the form of a bar graph, gives the real time physical level of the fire retarding agent remaining in the container at any given time.

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser.No. 60/600,158, filed on Aug. 10, 2005.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates in general to fire fighting systems and inparticular to a method and apparatus for enabling a user of the systemto effectively and efficiently utilize the fire fighting fluid in acontainer.

2. Description of the Known Prior Art

It is obvious that in a fire fighting system, particularly with acontainer or a tank forming part of a fire truck, the amount of fireretarding agent or fluid available to attempt to put the fire out islimited to the size of the tank.

Generally speaking, the user of the system can select a desired flowrate or rate of discharge of the fire retarding agent from thecontainer. If there is a first flow rate and then a second higher flowrate, the operator or user can select a desired one of the flow ratesfor a particular.

At the highest flow rate, the fire retarding agent in a conventionaltank may last only two minutes. Thus, during the hectic activities thatoccur while fighting a fire, the operator or user may not realize howlong the fire retarding agent has been flowing at the high rate and thusthe fluid may be substantially completely expended before the operatoror user is aware. If the operator had remembered that the fluid wasflowing at the highest rate and if he had known when there was oneminute of flow remaining, a lower flow rate could have been selected ora different area of the fire confronted thus enabling the operator toefficiently use, conserve, and prolong the discharge of the fireretarding agent.

Thus, it would be advantageous to have a display in visual proximity tothe user or operator that would provide a visual indication of theselected rate of discharge of the fire retarding agent such that theoperator does not have to try to remember the flow rate of the fireretarding agent that has been selected.

Further, if the display provided to the operator the time remaining forsubstantially complete dispensing of the fluid in the container or tank,the operator could make an informed judgment as to the rate of fluidflow that would be desired to efficiently use, conserve, and prolong thedischarge of the fire retarding agent.

Finally, it would be advantageous if the operator could see a graph on adisplay that showed in real time the level of the fluid remaining in thetank or container at any given time. The operator would then have aclear indication of how much fluid is remaining in the tank and how fastit is being used. If necessary, the operator could then select a slowerdischarge rate to prolong the discharge time of the fire retardingagent.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a management system for controlling therate of discharge of a fire retarding agent from a container with thereal time use of pertinent information given to the operator of thesystem. Thus during the hectic moments of fighting the fire, theoperator has a display within visual proximity that has thereon, in adigital read out, the time remaining, in minutes and seconds, forsubstantially complete dispensing of the fire retarding agent in acontainer or tank.

As an additional aide, the display may have associated therewith a voicesynthesizer that can orally state, at any predetermined interval such aseach 5 seconds, the time remaining, in minutes and seconds, forsubstantially complete dispensing of the fire retarding agent in thecontainer or tank.

It may also include an LCD bar graph (color or otherwise) forrepresenting the actual level of the fluid remaining in the container ortank such that the operator can see the relative level of the fluid inthe tank at any given time and can see how much of the fluid isremaining therein.

Also, the display may include at least two different colored lights(LED's) for indicating which rate of discharge of the fire retardingagent has been selected.

Finally, since most fire fighting devices such as trucks have anauxiliary tank or container that is charged with an auxiliary firefighting agent, the display may have LED's that indicate if theauxiliary tank is charged and available for use.

Thus it is an object of the present invention to provide a managementsystem for controlling the rate of discharge of a fire fightingretardant from a tank or container based on information provided on adisplay.

It is another object of the present invention to provide visualinformation for the operator that visually indicates to the user theselected rate of discharge of the fluid in a container.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide to theoperator, either visually or orally or both, the time remaining, inminutes and seconds, until the fluid in the tank is completely expended.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide an LCDbar graph display representing the actual level of the fluid in the tankso that the operator has a visual perception of the fluid remaining inthe tank at any given time.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a display forthe operator that visually indicates the charged or discharged status ofany auxiliary tank that may be available to the operator.

Thus, the novel invention relates to a management system for controllingthe dispensing of a fire retarding agent from a container comprising acontrol device for enabling a user to select a desired rate of dischargeof the fire retarding agent from the container and a display in visualproximity to the user of the control device for presenting a visualindication to the user of the selected rate of discharge of the fireretarding agent from the container.

The invention also relates to a management system for controlling thedispensing of a fire retardant agent from a container in which a controldevice is used to select a desired rate of discharge of the fireretarding agent from the container, and in which a display is in visualproximity to the user of the control device provides to the user thetime remaining, in minutes and seconds, for the fire retarding agent inthe container to be substantially completely expended at the existingselected rate of discharge such that the user of the control device canconstructively change the rate of discharge of the fire retarding agentfrom the container based on the indications from the display toefficiently use, conserve, and prolong the dispensing of the fireretarding agent.

The invention also relates to a management system for controlling therate of discharge of a fire fighting agent from a container and in whichan LCD bar graph display provides a visual indication to the user of thecontrol device of the relative level of the fluid remaining in thecontainer at any given time so that the operator or user can visuallyobserve the fluid level and the rate at which it is being dispensed.

The invention further relates to a management system for controlling therate of discharge of a fire fighting agent from a container in which adisplay provides a visual indication to the user, in digital form, ofthe time remaining, in minutes and seconds, for the fluid in thecontainer, at the selected flow rate, to be substantially completelyexpended.

The invention also relates to a management system for controlling therate of discharge of a fire fight agent, or fluid, from a container inwhich a voice synthesizer circuit associated with the display orallyannounces the time remaining, in minutes and seconds, for the fireretarding agent in the container to be substantially completelyexpended.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other more specific objects of the invention will be disclosedwhen taken in conjunction with the Detailed Description of the Drawingsin which like numerals represent like objects and in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic representation of the present invention; and

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the visual display of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the following description of the invention, it is to be understoodthat the term “fire retarding agent” is intended to mean “fluid” or anyother fire fighting medium that can be discharged from a containerduring the fire fighting operation. The term “tank” or “container” isintended to mean a “stationary” tank or container or a “portable” tankor container such as would be found on a fire fighting truck or fireengine.

As can be seen in FIG. 1, the novel system 10 comprises a tank orcontainer 12 that contains a fire retardant that is to be dispensed ordischarged on or towards a fire. The tank 12 may have an outlet conduit14 and an outlet conduit 16 that are connected to a selector valve 18controlled by a control device 22. By selectively controlling valve 18,the operator may select a first rate of discharge of the fire retardingagent or a second higher discharge rate. Typically speaking, there is a“high” discharge rate and a “low” discharge rate. When discharging thefire retardant at the “high” discharge rate, the fire fighting retardantin the tank 12 may be substantially totally expended in just twominutes. The operator must, therefore, remember the selected dischargerate so that the length of time remaining to use the fire extinguishingagent before it is entirely expended can be anticipated. Further, duringthe chaotic moments of fighting the fire, it is difficult for theoperator to remember whether the flow rate is “high” or “low”.

With the present invention, a visual display panel 24 is provided thathas on it an indicator, preferably in the form of an LED, that lights toindicate that tank 30, holding an auxiliary agent, is charged and readyto go.

It also has indicators 40, preferably in the form of LED's, to light toindicate “high” flow and “low” flow rates. If, for example only, the LEDon the left is lit, it may indicate that the operator has selected the“high” flow rate. If the LED on the right is lit, it may indicate thatthe operator has selected the “low” flow rate. This feature can berealized in many ways. For instance, valve 18 may have a sensor thereonthat recognizes the position in which the valve 18 located. Signals arethen generated in a well known fashion on line 32 to a microprocessor 26associated with the visual indicator panel to cause the appropriatelight to be energized. Of course, instead of having two dischargeconduits 14 and 16 coupled between the container or tank 12 each withits own “high” or “low” discharge rate, a single conduit may be coupledbetween the container 12 and the discharge nozzle 20 with a two speedpump in the conduit. The operator, with the control device 22, can thenselect the desired speed of the pump to produce either a “high”discharge or flow rate or a “low” discharge or flow rate. Again, asensor, well known in the art, can detect which pump speed has beenselected and send a signal on line 21/32 to the microprocessor 26. Thereare many available types of sensors such as flow rate sensors 19, pumpspeed sensors, and the like that could be used to generate the signal online 32 to the microprocessor 26 to indicate the “high” or “low”discharge rate selection.

A feature of great importance to the operator is the time remaininguntil the fire retarding agent in the tank 12 is substantiallycompletely expended. This is readily accomplished for a given volumetank and a known flow discharge rate of the fire retarding agent. Themicroprocessor 26 can be programmed to calculate the remaining time forthe fire retarding agent in the tank or container 12 to be completelyexpended at a given flow rate. This time can then be indicated on thepanel 28 of the visual display 24 in seconds, minutes and seconds, or inany desired units preferably with an LCD display 42. In this manner theoperator has before his eyes an indication of much fire retardant agentdischarge time is left. There is no longer any guess involved.

In addition, or alternatively, voice synthesizer 27 could be associatedwith the microprocessor 26 and the visual display and the time remainingcould be orally announced at any desired predetermined interval such aseach 5 seconds, or each 10 seconds. Such synthesizers are old and wellknown in the art and will not be explained here.

Of further importance to the operator is the visual perception of howmuch fire retardant agent is in the tank or container 12 at any giventime. This information is supplied in the present invention by placing atank fill indicator 23 in the container 12 to sense the level of thefire retardant agent and generate a signal on line 25 to themicroprocessor 26 that is used to generate a bar graph tank level gauge44 that shows by means of bars, in a well known fashion, the level ofthe fire retardant agent remaining in the tank 12 at any given time. Thebar graph 44 is shown in FIG. 2 as a horizontal bar graph. However, itis preferred that the bar graph be shown vertically so that it is movingdownwardly as the fire retardant agent is being expended.

With the novel arrangements discussed above, there is no guess work orremembering for the operator. The display 24 is placed within visualproximity of the operator, for instance on the dash of a fire engine, sothat as the operator is looking in a forward direction toward the fire,the display 24 is readily visible. If the operator wishes to efficientlyuse, conserve, and prolong the discharge of the fire retarding agent, a“low” level of discharge rate can be selected with the control device.

The auxiliary agent tank 30 has associated therewith a discharge conduit34 that, of course, is coupled to a discharge nozzle. It also has asensor 32 associated therewith to determine that the tank 30 is chargedand ready to go. The sensor output is coupled to microprocessor 26 whichthen causes indicator 38 to be energized (LED on) to indicate a fullycharged tank 30 or causes indicator 38 to be de-energized (LED off) toindicate that there is no fire retarding agent available in theauxiliary tank 30.

Thus, there has been disclosed a novel management system for controllingthe dispensing of a fire retardant from a container to enable theoperator to efficiently use, conserve, and prolong the discharge of, thefire retarding agent.

The system includes a display in visual proximity to the operator of acontrol device the visually indicates the selected rate of discharge ofthe fire retarding agent from a tank, container, or other known quantitysource. It also provides the time remaining for the fire retarding agentin tank 12 to be substantially completely expended based upon theselected flow rate of the fire retarding agent. This information isgiven either orally or as a display or both.

Further, the system provides a reference on the display, preferably inthe form of a bar graph that visually indicates the substantial realtime level of the fire retarding agent in the tank at any given time.

While the invention has been set forth in relation to specificembodiments, it is to be understood that certain changes may be made inthe novel invention without departing from the scope of the inventionand it is intended that all matter contained in the above description orshown in the accompanying drawings are to be interpreted as illustrativeand not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended tocover the generic and specific features of the invention hereindescribed.

1. A management system for controlling the dispensing of a fireretarding agent from a container comprising: a control device forselecting a desired rate of discharge of the fire retarding agent fromthe container; and a display in visual proximity to a user of thecontrol device for visually indicating the selected rate of discharge ofthe fire retarding agent from the container such that the user of thecontrol device knows the selected rate of discharge of the fireretarding agent based on the indication on the visual display.
 2. Amanagement system for controlling the dispensing of a fire retardingagent from a container comprising: a control device for selecting adesired rate of discharge of the fire retarding agent from thecontainer; and a display in visual proximity to a user of the controldevice for visually indicating the selected rate of discharge of thefire retarding agent from the container and providing the timeremaining, in minutes and seconds, for the selected fire retarding agentin the container to be completely expended at the selected rate ofdischarge such that the user of the control device can constructivelychange the rate of discharge of the fire retarding agent from thecontainer based on the indications from the visual display toefficiently use, conserve, and prolong the dispensing of, the fireretarding agent.
 3. A management system for controlling the rate ofdischarge of a fire retarding agent from a container comprising: acontrol device for selecting a desired rate of discharge of the fireretarding agent from the container; and a display in visual proximity toa user of the control device for visually indicating the selected flowrate of the fire retarding agent from the container, for providing thetime remaining, in minutes and seconds, for the fire retarding agent inthe container to be substantially completely expended, and fordisplaying the real time level of the fire retarding agent remaining inthe container at any given time such that the user of the control devicecan select a desired flow rate of the fire retarding agent from thecontainer based on the indications from the display to efficiently use,conserve, and prolong the discharge time of the fire retarding agent. 4.A management system for controlling the dispensing of a fire retardingagent from a container comprising: a control device for selecting adesired rate of discharge of the fire retarding agent from the containerby selecting one of a first discharge rate and a second higher dischargerate; and a display in visual proximity to a user of the control devicefor visually indicating the selected rate of discharge of the fireretarding agent from the container such that the user of the controldevice can select a different rate of discharge of the fire retardingagent based on the indication on the visual display and therebyefficiently use, conserve, and prolong the discharge of the fireretarding agent.
 5. A management system for controlling the dispensingof a fire retarding agent from a container comprising: a control devicefor selecting a desired rate of discharge of the fire retarding agentfrom the container; a sensor associated with the container forgenerating a signal representing the selected rate of discharge of thefire retarding agent; a calculator circuit coupled to the sensor forcalculating the time remaining, in minutes and seconds, based on thesize of the container and the selected rate of discharge, for the fireretarding agent in the container to be substantially completelyexpended; and a display in visual proximity to a user of the controldevice and coupled to the calculator circuit for visually indicating theselected rate of discharge of the fire retarding agent from thecontainer and for providing the time remaining, in minutes and seconds,for the selected fire retarding agent in the container to be completelyexpended at the selected rate of discharge such that the user of thecontrol device can change the rate of discharge of the fire retardingagent from the container based on the indications from the display toefficiently use, conserve, and prolong the discharge of, the fireretarding agent.
 6. A management system for controlling the dispensingof a fire retarding agent from a container comprising: a control devicefor selecting a desired rate of discharge of the fire retarding agentfrom the container; and a display in visual proximity to a user of thecontrol device for visually indicating the selected flow rate of thefire retarding agent from the container, for providing the timeremaining, expressed in minutes and seconds, for the fire retardingagent in the container to be substantially completely expended at theselected flow rate, and giving a visual indication of the real timephysical level of the fire retarding agent remaining in the container atany given time with the use of a bar graph container level gauge suchthat the user of the control device can change the flow rate of the fireretarding agent from the container based on the indications from thevisual display to regulate the control of the flow rate of the fireretarding agent to efficiently use, conserve, and prolong the dischargeof, the fire retarding agent in the container.
 7. The management systemof claim 1 further including: first and second colored indicator lightson the display for visually notifying the user of a selected one of thefirst flow rate and the second higher flow rate.
 8. The managementsystem of claim 5 further including: a microprocessor forming saidcalculator circuit; and a digital readout on the visual display coupledto the microprocessor for indicating the time remaining, in minutes andseconds, for the fire retarding agent in the container to besubstantially completely expended.
 9. The management system of claim 8further including: a circuit associated with the microprocessor forgenerating a synthesized voice to orally state the time remaining, inminutes and seconds, for the fire retarding agent in the container to besubstantially completely expended
 10. The management system of claim 5further including: an LCD bar graph on the display, and coupled to themicroprocessor, for visually indicating the real time physical level ofthe fire retarding agent remaining in the container at any given time.11. The management system of claim 1 further including: an auxiliaryfire retarding agent status indicator light associated with said displayfor visually notifying the user of the charged or discharged state of anauxiliary fire retarding agent container.
 12. A method of controllingthe rate of discharge of a fire retarding agent from a containercomprising the steps of: selecting a desired rate of discharge of thefire retarding agent with a control device; and visually indicating tothe user of the control device the selected rate of discharge of thefire retarding agent from the container such that the user is visuallyinformed of the selected rate of discharge of the fire retarding agent.13. A method of controlling the discharge of a fire retarding agent froma container comprising the steps of: selecting the rate of discharge ofthe fire retarding agent with a control device; providing a display forvisually indicating the rate of discharge of the fire retarding agent;and placing the display in visual proximity of a user of the controldevice such that the user is visually informed of the selected desiredrate of discharge of the fire retarding agent by means of the indicationfrom the display.
 14. A method of controlling the discharge of a fireretarding agent from a container comprising the steps of: selecting therate of discharge of the fire retarding agent from the container with acontrol device; providing a display for visually indicating the rate ofdischarge of the fire retardant agent from the container and forproviding the time remaining, in minutes and seconds, for the retardingagent in the container to be substantially completely expended; andplacing the display in visual proximity of a user of the control devicesuch that the user is informed of the selected rate of discharge of thefire retarding agent such that a decision to change the rate ofdischarge of the fire retarding agent can be made based on theindications from the display.
 15. A method of controlling the dischargeof a fire retarding agent from a container comprising the steps of:selecting the rate of discharge of the fire retarding agent from thecontainer with a control device; providing a display for visuallyindicating the rate of discharge of the fire retarding agent from thecontainer, for providing the time remaining, in minutes and seconds, forthe retarding agent in the container to be substantially completelyexpended, and for visually indicating the real time physical level ofthe remaining fire retarding agent in the container at any given time;and placing the display in visual proximity of a user of the controldevice such that the user can change the rate of discharge of the fireretarding agent with the control device based on the indications fromthe display.
 16. A method of controlling the discharge of a fireretarding agent from a container comprising the steps of: selecting therate of discharge of the fire retarding agent from the container byselecting one of a first discharge rate and a second higher dischargerate with a control device; providing a display for visually indicatingthe selected rate of discharge of the fire retardant agent from thecontainer and for providing the time remaining, in minutes and seconds,for the fire retarding agent in the container to be substantiallycompletely expended; and placing the display in proximity to a user ofthe control device such that the user can change the desired rate ofdischarge of the fire retarding agent with the control device based onthe indications from the visual display.
 17. A method of constructivelycontrolling the dispensing of a fire retarding agent from a containercomprising the steps of: selecting a desired rate of discharge of thefire retarding agent from the container with a control device;associating a sensor with the container for generating a signalrepresenting the selected flow rate; coupling a calculator means to theflow rate sensor for calculating the time remaining, in minutes andseconds, based on the container size and the selected rate of dischargeof the fire retarding agent, for the fire retarding agent in thecontainer to be substantially completely expended; coupling a display tothe calculator circuit for visually indicating to the user of thecontrol device the selected rate of discharge of the fire retardingagent from the container and for providing the time remaining, inminutes and seconds, for the fire retarding agent in the container to besubstantially completely expended with continued use at the selecteddischarge rate such that the user of the control device is informed ofthe selected discharge rate and the time remaining for completedischarge of the fire retarding agent in the container at the selecteddischarge rate to enable the user to constructively change the rate ofdischarge of the fire retarding agent from the container based on theindications from the display to efficiently use, conserve, and prolongthe discharge of the fire retarding agent.
 18. A method ofconstructively controlling the dispensing of a fire retarding agent froma container comprising the steps of: selecting a desired rate ofdischarge of the fire retarding agent from the container with a controldevice; visually indicating to a user of the control device the selecteddischarge rate of the fire retarding agent from the container; providingfor the user of the control device the time remaining, expressed inminutes and seconds, for the selected fire retarding agent in thecontainer to be substantially completely expended at the indicateddischarge rate; and visually indicating the real time physical level ofthe fire retarding agent remaining in the container at any given timewith the use of a bar graph container level gauge such that the user ofthe control device can change the discharge rate of the fire retardingagent from the container based on the indications from the display toefficiently use, conserve, and prolong the discharge of the fireretarding agent.
 19. The method of claim 12 further comprising the stepof: visually notifying the user of the control device of the selectedone of the first flow rate and the second higher flow rate with the useof first and second colored lights on the display.
 20. The method ofclaim 16 further comprising the steps of: forming the calculator circuitin a microprocessor; and coupling a digital readout on the display tothe microprocessor for visually indicating the time remaining, inminutes and seconds, for the fire retarding agent in the container to besubstantially completely expended.
 21. The method of claim 16 furthercomprising the steps of: forming the calculator circuit in amicroprocessor; and generating a synthesized voice with a displaycircuit coupled to the microprocessor to orally state, at predeterminedtime intervals, the time remaining, in minutes and seconds, for the fireretarding agent in the container to be substantially completelyexpended.
 22. The method of claim 16 further including the step of:coupling an LCD bar graph on the display to the microprocessor forvisually indicating the physical level of the fire retarding agentremaining in the container at any given time.
 23. The method of claim 12further comprising the step of: visually notifying the user of thecontrol device of the charged or discharged state of an auxiliary fireretarding agent container associated with the management system.